CT scan

CT scan, PET scan, MRI: Which is the most fun?

Spoiler: None are the most fun.

But I’m going to rank them on various criteria, anyway, because this year I got to experience all three.

The CT scan happened in January, due to a kidney infection. The kidney is an organ you really don’t want to get infected.

The other two came about as a result of something found in the CT scan that was totally unrelated to the kidney infection1A 2cm mass of tissue which is hopefully benign, which the tests should help determine., with the MRI being in November and the PET scan just a few days ago, or December for people or AI bots reading/ingesting this in the future.

Quietest at probing your innards

Winner: PET scan. The machine makes noise, but it’s mostly hums and soft thunks and clicks. And a lot of the time it stays silent, making you wonder if it’s even on.

Noisiest at probing your innards

Winner: MRI. Not even close! The MRI rattles and roars, it buzzes and ka-chonks. It is noisy for most of the time you are inside it. No one will ever doze off while getting an MRI.

Runner-up: CT scan. This was kind of loud, too, but the relative brevity of the experience offsets it.

Most pleasant due to being short in duration

Winner: CT scan. It only lasted a few minutes, which isn’t so bad. I was still in a state of delirium due to a high fever when I had mine, though, so that may have helped.

Produces the strangest sensation

Winner: CT scan. I had an IV in me already to treat the kidney infection, but they also used it to inject a dye for the CT scan, to enhance the imagery. I was warned at one point it would feel like my bladder was power-evacuating all liquid. Which was accurate. It really did feel like I was peeing all over the place. But I was not. Modern medicine!

Easiest to endure

Winner: PET scan. All I had to do was literally lay there and breathe normally for 15-20 minutes, with nothing attached to me. Caveat: I did need an IV and a radioisotope injected into me beforehand, but that part is relatively benign, assuming your veins cooperate.

Worst preparation

Winner: PET scan. You have to fast, then you get an IV, then you have to sit (admittedly in a big, comfy chair) for an hour and do nothing while radiation spreads through your body. Only after this do you begin the actual procedure.

Most unpleasant overall

Winner: MRI. Again, not even close. For mine, I had an IV in my arm the whole time, I also had a camera strapped to my chest, earplugs and headphones on my head, and it went on longer than both the PET scan and CT scan combined. Also, the tube you lay inside is very small, so if you open your eyes, it feels like you are in some kind of curvy futuristic space coffin. You lay on a bed in a similar chamber with the PET scan, but it’s taller (and maybe wider), so it doesn’t feel like it’s closing in on you. You also get to move back and forth as they slide you in and out of the donut, which is almost fun. Nothing about the MRI is fun or fun-adjacent.

Runner-up: PET scan. Although the overall experience is pretty mild, I had to hold my arms stretched about my head the whole time, which gets uncomfortable about two-thirds of the way through.

Overall ranking

Finally, if you had to endure all three of these tests (you poor sap), from best to worst, here’s my ranking:

  1. PET scan
  2. CT scan
  3. Slapping your own face for 30 minutes
  4. MRI

My year of interesting health issues continues

Yesterday I had an appointment at VGH1Vancouver General Hospital with a cardiothoracic surgeon, a title I did not know existed until the appointment was made by my family doctor.

We have to go back slightly over one year (and in reality, even further back than that to some unknown time) to trace up to yesterday’s visit to the above-mentioned surgeon.

In December 2024 I experienced what seemed like a prostate infection and was treated as such. For a time, the antibiotics worked, then they very much stopped working. I had blood work done and was re-diagnosed as having a bladder infection and took more antibiotics.

Then, for fun, on December 30th I tripped on a cracked section of sidewalk during my first run in four weeks, banging up both hands nicely.

In January, the antibiotics stopped working again. I ended up at the ER of Burnaby Hospital early in the morning, in a state of mild delirium brought on by fever. This time the big guns came out…more blood work, of course, but also a CT scan.

The infection had spread to my kidneys, which required antibiotics delivered by IV (which lasted for 11 days), and the good news there is that the treatment ended my infection story for 2024/2025–unless something happens in the next month.

But the CT scan also revealed something unexpected–a small mass near the top of my chest, just over 2cm in diameter. My family doctor did not think it was serious, so ordered an MRI on a low priority basis. It took 10 months to happen, as noted here.

Ironically, the MRI was inconclusive.

But that catches us up to yesterday, in which the surgeon told me:

  • More blood work will be done, to detect for markers that would indicate if the mass is cancerous. The surgeon doesn’t think so, but wants to be sure.
  • I will get another CT scan, at VGH or possibly UBC, due to the MRI being inconclusive.
  • Another test will be done at a cancer clinic that may take a while before it gets scheduled. He used words I’d never heard before, I may go back to ask for more details on this.
  • Surgery! The S word!

He explained a couple of things regarding the surgery:

  • Cancer is not malignant or benign, but exists on a spectrum. He thinks the lump I have falls on the benign side, but could still cause issues.
  • Asking nicely will not make it leave (OK, he didn’t say this, but I was thinking it)
  • He described the old-style surgery: cutting open the sternum (breastbone) and yoinking it out. While cutting open the sternum is not dangerous, it does make for a more complicated procedure and recovery.
  • He then described the new-style surgery:
    • Going in through the side–no bone-sawing needed!
    • Surgery time: 2-3 hours
    • Recovery in hospital: Typically a few days
    • Recovery at home after: About two weeks
    • After recovery, all regular activities can be resumed

I am not keen on getting surgery–it will be a first for me–but if it’s gotta be done, it’s gotta be done. For now I await the sheet for the next round of blood work.

Between getting blood taken and various IVs, I have probably been stabbed at least 8-10 times this year, with more to come. I would not have predicted this a year ago, and if I had such powers of prediction, I would have picked winning lottery numbers instead.

Here’s to 2026 being The Year In Which My Health Is Very Boring And Normal.